


It holds me 'til I ache, overflow, and start to break

by kimabutch (CWoodP)



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Missing Scene, someone please hug Zolf, spoilers for RQG 156
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:14:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24309562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CWoodP/pseuds/kimabutch
Summary: Zolf asks for Cel's help with some Latin translation.
Relationships: Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom & Zolf Smith, Sasha Racket & Zolf Smith
Comments: 24
Kudos: 75





	It holds me 'til I ache, overflow, and start to break

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place in the middle of RQG 156. Title is from "An Act Of Kindness" by Bastille. Thanks to Babs for the beta-reading!

It’s late enough that the kobolds have all gone to bed and the inn is mostly silent when Cel hears a knock on their door.

“I think I’ve got it all set for tomorrow, Skraak!” Cel calls out, not looking up from the piece they’re screwing into the brorb’s speaker. “Just gotta check a few more things and —”

“It’s just me, Cel,” says a soft voice that’s decided _not_ Skraak’s, and Cel spins around to see Zolf gently sliding the door open. “You got a moment?”

“Oh! Yes! Please come in, I’ll just —” Cel moves towards the door, picking up potions, machinery, and tools littering the floor so that he has more space to move about. Zolf steps in, closing the door behind him. 

“Haven’t seen you about much, Mr Smith, not since you” — Cel remembers Azu’s warning look, don’t make a big deal out of it, right — “not since we got out of the cell.” 

“Yeah,” Zolf says quietly. “I’m sorry about that, the business with the… all of it. Didn’t mean to — I’ll try to be — I’m working on it.”

“Cheers, Mr Smith,” says Cel, picking up a sixth beaker. “We all have our off days. Or weeks. Or months! Just glad to see you’re up and about, you know, talking and things. I always find talking helps. Did you want to talk?” They look up at Zolf and see for the first time how red and puffy his eyes are. He seems to notice their worried expression and shakes his head. 

“I uh… I just needed your help for something, if you had the time. Wanted to know...” Zolf hesitates for a moment, like he’s searching for the right words. “Do you know Latin?”

“Oh! Can’t say I’ve ever gotten around to it, actually, tend to pick up most languages as I go and no one’s really speaking it these days!” Cel says, and watches Zolf’s shoulders sag. “But I do speak” — they count the languages out on their fingers — “French, Spanish, a touch of Catalan, Portuguese, and I’ve _heard_ people speak Romanian, and all of those have Latin roots, so maybe I could help if there’s something you needed translated?”

“Yeah. Yeah maybe,” Zolf says. “There’s this word — it’s a name but I think it also means something. Uh. Sag-axe? Suh-jacks? S-A-G-A-X. I’ve only seen it written down, but…”

“Sagax, sagax,” Cel says, spinning the word around on their tongue. “Well, I’m not sure and I wouldn’t know without context but I’d think it would be something like _sagaz_ or _sagace_ or _sagaç_ or even _sage_ in English — not the plant, but like, a person who’s, you know, like they know a lot, lots of experience? Wise? Wise, that’s the word. A wise person, I’d guess — you okay, buddy?” 

Zolf’s head is bowed, looking away, his hand covering his mouth, but Cel can still see the silent tears streaming down his face. He looks up, dragging his hand across his face to wipe away the tears, and Cel’s surprised to see that he’s smiling.

“Yeah,” he says, his voice shaking. “I’m okay, it’s just… I...” His mouth opens and shuts a few times as he tries to make out the words.

“Would you like a hug?” 

Zolf freezes and then gives a slow, shallow nod. Cel immediately takes their cue, kneeling on the ground to bring themself to his height and wrapping their arms around him. He hugs back, leaning into Cel and letting his head rest on their shoulder as sobs continue to tremble his body. Cel doesn’t quite understand what’s going on but they’re not opposed to it either — they’ve never gotten a hug from Zolf before, but it’s just as warm and strong as they imagined it would be. 

It’s a long time before Zolf speaks. “Thanks,” he murmurs as he pulls away, that same strange smile on his face, and Cel’s never been great at reading people, but they wonder if it’s maybe not them he’s thanking. 


End file.
